Amid violence in Washington, D.C., journalist safety must be respected
Following yesterday’s disturbing displays of violence in Washington, D.C., which put journalists and lawmakers alike at serious risk, CPJ remains concerned for the safety of reporters covering civil unrest and political events. Amid the chaos, reported threats against the press yesterday included intimidation of news crews and destruction of equipment. “Journalists and news crews covering…
CPJ Insider: Winter 2020 edition
CPJ urges incoming Biden administration to take specific steps to restore press freedom President Donald Trump’s anti-press rhetoric over the past four years has had a dual effect: It has done extraordinary damage to public trust in the media in the United States, and it has simultaneously emboldened autocrats around the world to embrace his…
A year like no other: The state of press freedom in 2020
What a year! Over the past 12 months, journalists worldwide faced the risk of COVID-19 exposure while reporting on the frontlines of the pandemic, and bore the brunt of virus-related crackdowns and censorship. Journalists mobilized to cover consequential elections, and a wave of protests and unrest around the world from Minsk to Minneapolis. Authorities surveilled…
Journalist safety in 2020
In this unforgettably tumultuous year, journalists across the world covered the ongoing pandemic, dangerous protests, natural disasters, active conflicts, elections, and other life-changing events. The reporters, anchors, photographers, camera operators, producers, and technicians who brought 2020’s biggest stories to the public often risked their own physical safety and psychological well-being and found themselves the subjects…
Killings of journalists rise as reprisal murders more than double in 2020
New York, December 22, 2020 –The number of journalists singled out for murder in reprisal for their work more than doubled this year, leading to a rise in overall work-related killings, CPJ found in a report released today. Globally, at least 30 journalists were killed on duty in 2020, including 21 reprisal murders, up from…
Murders of journalists more than double worldwide
Retaliatory killings of journalists worldwide rose significantly in 2020 from the previous year, but deaths covering war dropped sharply. A CPJ special report by Jennifer Dunham December 22, 2020 NEW YORK The number of journalists murdered in retaliation for their work more than doubled in 2020, as criminal gangs and militant groups targeted reporters working…
A deplorable year for press freedom: CPJ finds record high behind bars
CPJ has found that the number of journalists jailed around the world for their work has hit a new high in 2020, a statistic with dire implications for the future of press freedom. The pandemic, coupled with protests in numerous countries, created a perfect storm for an increase in journalist detentions. China was the world’s…
Number of journalists jailed worldwide hits record amid unrest, pandemic
At least 274 journalists imprisoned globally despite COVID-19 risks in jail New York, December 15, 2020–A record number of journalists were imprisoned because of their work in 2020, as governments clamped down on news coverage of civil unrest and the coronavirus pandemic, the Committee to Protect Journalists found in its latest annual census. “It’s shocking…
Record number of journalists jailed worldwide
Editor‘s note: In 2019, CPJ published a new database of attacks on the press. Numbers for each subsequent prison census are liable to adjust yearly as CPJ learns of arrests, releases, or deaths in prison. For the most recent data, see cpj.org/data/imprisoned/. The number of journalists jailed globally because of their work hit a new high in 2020…
In 2020, U.S. journalists faced unprecedented attacks
As the Committee to Protect Journalists publishes its annual tally of journalists imprisoned around the world, not a single U.S. reporter is behind bars for their work. But that statistic belies the country’s marred press freedom landscape following the summer’s Black Lives Matter protests in which journalists were handcuffed, shoved, and shot at with less-lethal…